I just love Amy Butler's Duck Egg Fabric and my new handmade Coin Purse

I normally do not obsess over fabric.  After all, my sewing skills are quite minimal (and I do mean quite minimal!).  For whatever reason though, I just love Amy Butler's French Wallpaper Duck Egg Fabric.  I don't know if it is the bold color combination of reds and blues or the pattern or perhaps both, but I have been a bit consumed by its loveliness lately.  I got this gorgeous handmade coin purse in the mail today from SeventhSphere on Etsy.  It is now officially one of my favorite things!  It is also of awesome quality, thickly lined, and, well, just splendid.

Now you know that my obsessions do not only include things of wool and felt.  I have momentarily branched out.  Unfortunately, I think this particular duck egg fabric is now out of print.  Although, I try not to think about that devastating news and focus on my new little jewel of a coin purse.

NEW Yarn and Bead Kits!

It seems that I have a bit of insomnia tonight - okay, a lot of insomnia! Therefore, I've decided to be productive and go ahead with an announcement that I had planned for tomorrow's blog entry.

I'm introducing my new Yarn and Bead Kits which is very exciting for me. I've combined my hand felted wool beads with matching handspun wool yarn to form a spectacular new embellishment kit. Since I've started spinning yarn on my new drop spindle, I couldn't resist making some matching sets of yarn and beads.

What crafty thing can you use this for? Well, I would suggest using it as embellishment or trim. It would be great for adding some decorative touches to a handmade purse, scarf, sweater, and the list goes on. The beads make great buttons, whether whole or cut in half. It is also nice for scrapbook lovers who want a touch of unique embellishment on their pages. The yarn and beads can be crafted into cards or jewelry too. They could even be used in paper making or book binding. Really, the skies the limit when it comes to crafting possibilities!

You can find several color schemes and combinations of these new Yarn and Bead Kits in my Etsy shop. I also have one available on Mintd. Here are some examples of what's currently available or will be available very soon.

Consignment & My Itty Bitty Sewing Machine

I thought that I'd share some photos of my packaged beads and finished rings that I made for a consignment order. I really love to package and label my items. Considering I'm a one woman show, I think that it just looks so much nicer when items are packaged and labeled. It gives it the professional touch. It is also probably the graphic designer in me! I worked in publishing, designing books, magazines, etc., for a few years and am very picky about details. This is really an asset though when it comes to making handmade items. I don't settle for second best; I can be quite the anal perfectionist at times - just ask my husband ;o)

I shipped the hand felted wool beads and woolly ladybug and flower rings to Columbus, Ohio, at the end of last week: destination Wholly Craft, a lovely little shop that sells handmade and vintage items. The shop also has a myspace page that tells a little more about it. Wholly Craft's owner has been a pleasure to communicate with too. I'm very happy about this consignment opportunity and would love some more requests like this one. I really don't have the time to do any wholesale orders, but consignment and small retail requests are really ideal right now. I hope that more great opportunities like this arise in the future for my funky felted items! I have yet to pursue any leads myself, but I may start looking and sending out promos soon; of course, that is if I can find the time to do it.





I also began the journey of learning to use an actual sewing machine over the weekend! I was always more a tomboy growing up - messing with cars with my dad, oh, and watching a lot of brain rotting television. I really liked doing sewing by hand, but never learned to sew with a machine. My mother, who is truly a sewing, cooking, and cleaning whiz, had given me a really nice full-size sewing machine, but it looked very intimidating with all its buttons and gadgets so I went to Target and bought an itty bitty mini sewing machine - about half the size of a normal one. You can see it in the corner of the picture along with some of my hand dyed silks and a piece of my handmade paper which I plan to sew too! While I know that this little machine is probably made for kids, I like it, and it is very simple to use. Since my parents were visiting over the weekend, my mom showed me the basics of using my baby sewing machine. I love it!! I can't wait to whip out some wallets, wrist cuffs, etc. It is too small for big projects, but I think that eventually I'll graduate to my larger machine. Perhaps, once I get the hang of using this little one, I can tackle the full-size one and actually make some of my own clothes. Ahh, my sewing machine dreams . . . . . .

Anyway this last photo is of some of my hand dyed silk remnants. I haven't dyed any silks in a while because I have so many remnants to use, but with summer coming on, I think that I'll get back into silk dying and paper making - both wonderful fiber arts! I still plan on feltmaking, but the fresh spring air and the sunshine make me want to branch out and try my hand again at some of my old artistic passions. With both silk dyeing and paper making (as with feltmaking), you just really never know quite what your end result will be. To me, this is what makes it so much fun: the great surprise, sometimes very good and sometimes a work in progress still. Be on the lookout for some nifty items made using my hand dyed silks and cottons as well as some handmade papers coming to my online shops this summer.